Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1327039
13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 JANUARY 2021 committee warned of the massive visual impact on the urban sky- lines of Mosta and Naxxar when viewed from various viewpoints, such as Mdina. Fort Cambridge: To schedule or to demolish On the backburner is a high-rise hotel proposed by the GAP group on the Fort Cambridge barracks in Tigné. In March the develop- ers scaled down the 40-storey hotel to 31, after the revocation of Townsquare's original 38-sto- rey application in 2017 forcing its downscale to 28 storeys. But the policy permitting high-rise hotels specifically bans such de- velopments on scheduled histor- ical buildings. If the barracks are scheduled – as the Sliema local council is requesting – then the PA will have to assess the impact on the setting of the building. The building was recommended for Grade 2 scheduling in EIA studies, a status which normally precludes substantial changes. Photomontages for the new de- velopment suggest that most of the original barracks will be de- molished with only parts of the façade being retained. A high-rise in Xghajra? In December 2020, developers presented plans for three gigan- tic blocks rising to 15 storeys on farmland just outside Smart City, overlooking the sea on one side and Wied Glavan on the other, with 14 retail shops, 153 apart- ments and nine penthouses. Jason Mifsud, a shareholder in the Fanu Mifsud Company of Mqabba, as well as Univest Enterprises and Four Site Operations, presented the application. The site consists of 5,466sq.m of farmland. It was a deceptive zoning application approved in August 2018, which cleared the way by applying the Floor Area Ratio mechanism, which allows a 17.5m height to be spread over additional floors in return for the allocation of open piazzas. Residents were unaware that the zoning application had anything to do with high-rise de- velopments, as it simply referred to the removal of a schemed 3m front garden and changes to the road and building alignment. Flyover at Mriehel: a step too far Despite its impact on agricul- tural land, road-building has been more politically palatable than construction projects, mostly due to the presumed benefits for mo- torists. But Infrastructure Malta may have crossed a line by pro- posing a flyover on farmland in Qormi, especially after the inter- vention of former Labour leader Alfred Sant and former President Marie Louis Coleiro, which gave legitimacy to a campaign which saw local farmers team up with Moviment Graffitti, once again proving the NGO's worth as a coalition builder. Plans shown to farmers indicate that the new fly- over will take 20 tumoli of arable land from farmers and destroy one of Qormi's last "green lungs". Manoel Island: never-ending saga The Manoel Island project had hit a major snag in 2020 after the Environment and Planning Re- view Tribunal (EPRT) revoked the project's permit and ordered developers MIDI to prepare a new EIA, a process which is ex- pected to be concluded during 2021. The permit was revoked after the EPRT accepted a plea of conflict of interest due to the involvement of the son of one of the project's shareholders in drafting the EIA. Amendments to the original 1999 permit, which included more open space areas and 610 apartments at Manoel Island, were approved in 2019 by the PA after 8,000sq.m of floor space were transferred to MIDI's Tigné project. The 1999 permit remains enshrined in the local plan approved in 2006. The AUM and Palumbo appeals 2021 will see the PA's appeals tribunal (EPRT) taking a final decision on the American Uni- versity of Malta's proposed cam- pus extension, which was turned down by the PA in November 2019. The project, along with the transfer of public land at Zonqor to Jordanian construction com- pany Sadeen, is another legacy of the Muscat government. The proposal has been opposed by a group of Cottonera residents on grounds that it would destroy the few remaining public open spac- es in the area and ruin a histor- ic skyline without contributing anything to the community in the surrounding area. Another crucial appeal is that presented by Palumbo against a PA en- forcement against the dumping of toxic waste in an area levelled by concrete following the yard's privatisation. It may have legal consequences stemming from obligations stipulated in the agreement between the govern- ment and Palumbo. The last sit- ting dates back to January 2020 and so far no date has been set for the hearing which was nearing its conclusion following testimonies by the ERA, PA and Palumbo of- ficials during the past four years. Top: the originally-proposed 40-storey tower hotel atop the Fort Cambridge baracks Below: One of the Qormi farmers risking the loss of agricultural land due to plans for a new flyover at Mriehel Left: The downscaled DB project and below: Manoel Island